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Introduction:

7 beautiful women and 1 lucky man

[[[-Island_Fever17.TXT-]]]

Island Fever
Written by: JeremyDCP@hotmail.com
Chapter 17: "Disperse"

"Here baby... let me get that for you," Trish said to
Lindsay, motioning for the young and docile 18-year-old to
stay seated at the breakfast bar counter within the kitchen.
I stood at the entranceway of the kitchen and watched as
Trish scurried over to the utensil drawer and fetched a
spoon. Then, she returned to Lindsay and gave it to her.

"I really hope you like it," Trish commented, as Lindsay
used the spoon to take a sample taste of a banana split ice
cream sundae. Trish seemed so worried that Lindsay was
satisfied with the dessert she had prepared for her that she
clasped both hands together and held them near her chin.
Intrigued, I took a step further into the kitchen, although
neither of the ladies were aware of my presence just yet.

After several seconds of indecision, Lindsay finally
nodded her head and smiled up at Trish. "Hmmmmm... yummy.
It tastes delicious, Trish. Thank you for making this!"

Trish clapped both hands together and even squealed with
delight because Lindsay had given her a positive reaction.

Perhaps I was analyzing too deep into this, but it seemed
to me that Trish was only happy when Lindsay had a smile
on her face. That was a good mindset to have - I was only
happy when, for example, Pamela and Devon had a smile on
their faces as well - but Trish, it appeared, had taken
things to a much greater extreme.

Just the tense, worried expression Trish displayed before
Lindsay tried the ice cream sundae, to the look of sudden,
absolute joy mere seconds later after being given a good
answer was the barometer that I was using. In my eyes, at
least, it was not healthy for Trish - or anyone else, for
that matter - to be _that_ dependant on making another person
happy over something so trivial as an ice cream sundae.

As Lindsay continued to enjoy the afternoon dessert,
Trish wrapped both arms around the little minx from behind
and squeezed lovingly. She even burrowed the side of her
face between Lindsay's shoulder blades and softly cooed,
"You are so beautiful, baby. Hmmmmm... so beautiful."

Lindsay's reaction was, very simply, no reaction. All she
did was continue to eat her banana split ice cream sundae as
Trish poured all sorts of love and affection upon her.
Suddenly, I remembered something Amy had said to me just
one week ago today when I brought the subject of these two
ladies up during our discussion. _Trish is in love with
Lindsay_. _Not the other way around_.

I was starting to think that, perhaps, Amy's remarks had
some merit. For the past couple of days, at least, Lindsay
seemed mostly indifferent around Trish unless the voluptuous
Canadian was kissing her, or having sex with her. If this
truly was the case, what did Amy base her comment on? Was
it something about their relationship that she inferred
herself? Or did Lindsay tell Amy that?

Trish was looking for love, and a bona-fide commitment.
Lindsay, it seemed, just wanted to have sex.

"Oh, hi Jeremy!" Trish exclaimed, full of her usual zest
and energy, as she spotted me standing near the entranceway
of the kitchen. As Lindsay flashed me a charming smile of
her own, Trish motioned for me to come closer and join them.
"Would you like an ice cream?" she asked. "Ice creams are
my specialty. I can fix any type of ice cream you want."

"No, I'm fine, thank you," I responded, the thoughts of
these two women and the true status of their relationship
still dominating my mind. Unfortunately, it appeared as if
Trish may have been headed toward a major fall. She _LOVED_
Lindsay and was obviously entertaining thoughts of spending
the absolute rest of her life with her. But Lindsay seemed
to have a different agenda, and very different ideas. There
did not appear to be a middle ground for either of them.

"Are you sure you don't want some ice cream?"

"Yes, I'm sure," I told Trish. "Thank you anyway."

Trish smiled and hugged Lindsay from behind once again,
then pecked her on the cheek with a kiss. "After you finish
your sundae, baby, how about you and me go back to the
recreation room? We can play some more video games. I
know how much you enjoy that _Final Fantasy X-2_ game. We
must beat the final boss in _Resident Evil 6_."

Lindsay placed her spoon down and turned to look back at
Trish. "I already have plans with Amy for today." Trish
was crestfallen as Lindsay added, "I am going to meet her at
two o'clock and we are going to go horseback riding."

Trish's eyes narrowed. "Can I go with you?"

Lindsay glanced over at me. "There are only two horses
on the island... right? Smokin' Satin Bars and Blakken?"

"Yes," I nodded.

Lindsay turned her attention back toward Trish. "Jeremy
and Kristanna said that me and Amy could borrow their horses
and go riding throughout the forest. Only two horses..."

Trish was defeated. "Oh... okay."

Needless to say, I felt sorry for Trish. Her little baby
had made plans for the day which did not involve her. I
frowned as Trish took a step back, her expression empty and
emotionless. I wanted to give her a hug, but held back.

"I don't see why two of you could not ride one of the
horses at once," I offered. "That way, all three of you
could go out riding together."

Trish closed her eyes and sighed. "No... it's okay."
After putting on a happy face which was not sincere, Trish
kissed Lindsay on the cheek and murmured, "I really hope you
and Amy have a good time together, baby." Trish's pretty
mouth twitched as she added, "Maybe you and me can hook up
after dinner. Want to play some video games then? We can
play _X-Box_, _X-Box 360_ or _Playstation 3_... whatever
game you want. There are games on the computer, too."

"We can hook up after dinner, sure," Lindsay answered.
Now, Trish appeared genuinely happy again. "But I rather
not play video games," Lindsay added. "I want to play with
Mr. Happy instead... if you know what I mean."

As the 30-year-old nodded her head and giggled in total
agreement, I had a sudden flashback to their first evening
on the island when I eavesdropped on Trish and _Mr. Happy_ -
a white vibrator, or magic wand. Clearly, Lindsay had been
properly introduced to Trish's joy-toy otherwise known as
Mr. Happy. She wanted Trish to use it on her tonight!

"Besides," Lindsay added, "I already beat the final boss
in _Resident Evil 6_. I beat the game yesterday."

"You did?" Trish asked, surprised and maybe a little hurt.
"You played and defeated the game without me there, too? I
thought you and I were team-mates when it came to..."

"Hey kiddo," Amy said to Lindsay, walking right past me
and into the kitchen, and cutting Trish's words off in the
process. Amy did give me a little wave of the hand, though,
but her focus here was obviously Lindsay. "I thought that
you and I would get an early start on our horseback ride."
Amy glanced at her wristwatch. "'Tis one-thirty. Kristanna
has both of the horses ready for us."

"Oh, I'm not really that hungry anyway," Lindsay mused,
stepping toward Trish and kissing her on the cheek. "Thank
you for the thought, though. It was nice."

Amy grasped Lindsay's hand and gently tugged her away
from Trish. As Amy then guided Lindsay out of the kitchen,
she looked back and waved her hand about in a friendly
manner. "Bye Trish. Bye Jeremy. Later gators..."

Once Lindsay was clearly gone from our view, Trish took a
deep, ragged breath, and then hung her head low. She turned
her back to me and picked up the spoon Lindsay had just been
using. After inspecting it with her eyes for five seconds,
Trish angrily threw the spoon into the nearby kitchen sink.
The loud _clanking_ noise it made as a result startled me.

"Hey... are you okay?" I asked, stepping toward her.
When Trish turned to face me, there were tears in her eyes.
I quickly closed the distance between us and placed both
hands atop her shoulders. "Hey... what's wrong?"

Trying her best not to cry, Trish flailed her right hand
up-and-down several times in succession. "L-Lindsay... I-I
can't believe that she... she d-discarded me like that."

"Lindsay did not DISCARD you," I implored. "She just
wanted to go out horseback riding with Amy. Both of them
asked me before breakfast this morning if they could borrow
our horses for a couple of hours. They had it planned. One
thing that Lindsay absolutely loves is horseback riding."

"Oh, I know..." Trish sulked, hanging her head low again.
She sniffed her nose and added, "I just think... that... me
and Lindsay should be together. I want to be with h-her.
The l-last few days it seems... it s-seems... I don't know."

"I would like to be with Pamela, dear. I would like to be
with Devon, too. I am sure both of them would like to be
with me. But we don't try to monopolize each other's time."
Trish glared at me with an angry look in her eyes as I went
on, "I know that you are head-over-heels in love with
Lindsay." Trish's expression changed to one of curiosity.
"That... it's... it's so obvious. You love her. Everyone
on the island knows it. Everyone talks about it."

"Lindsay is everything that I have ever wanted in a girl,"
Trish confided in me. "I... I can't explain it. I know I
have only known her for two weeks. Two weeks and two days.
But I dreamed about it. I never thought I would find it.
The absolute, PERFECT girl. But I did. Her hair, her eyes,
her body, her voice... her attitude, personality, demeanor.
I never thought I would find the girl I had dreamed about
for so long. Then... then I met Lindsay in Miami."

"Before you flew to Peru," I sighed.

"If you find the ultimate, perfect girl, Jeremy, you have
to latch onto her," Trish quaked. "I feel that way about
Lindsay. You probably feel that way about both Pamela and
Devon. You cannot let the perfect girl get away!"

"Sweetheart, you are a LOT older than Lindsay is." I
_could not believe_ I had just said that. I had nine years
on Trish myself! So what did that make me as it pertained to
Lindsay and all of the time and energy I had spent on her?

"I don't care how young Lindsay is!" Trish exclaimed. "I
love her! And I want to be with her!" Trish shook her head.
"Camille was feeding me that same line of garbage just the
other day. I'm 12 years older than Lindsay. 30 to 18. Big
deal! When I am 70, Lindsay will be 58. Do you think that's
a big age difference? No, you don't. But because we are
younger, everyone wants to jump on me about our ages. First
Camille and now you, Jeremy." Glaring at me, Trish folded
both arms in front of her and took a step back. She was
_boiling_ with anger because of what I had said to her!

"I am not trying to tell you how to live your life," I
insisted, still gripping her shoulders. My top priority
here was to get Trish to settle down. I surely did not want
her to be angry with me at all. "I think it is wonderful
that you love and care so deeply for Lindsay. I don't want
to see you get hurt, Trish. That's all. Lindsay is a lot
younger than you are. She just lost her virginity what...
two weeks ago. Point is, I don't think Lindsay wants the
same things out of life right now that you do."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't think Lindsay wants to settle down and enter into
any sort of commitment," I answered. "In fact, I know that
she doesn't, Lindsay told me that herself, Trish. I know
for a fact that she also told you the same thing."

Trish closed her eyes and sighed once again. "I heard
her talk about that before. But I'm hoping that if I treat
her well... if I... if I show her how much I love her, and
how happy I could make her... she will change her mind." A
tear even streaked from Trish's right eye as she told me,
"You can constantly reach for the stars, Jeremy, but maybe
just once in your lifetime do you actually have a chance to
grab one. I got my star now. It's Lindsay. I have no plans
to let her go... let her slip away from me."

She stepped away from me and whined, "I'm only hurt now
because I went to all that trouble with the ice cream, but
Lindsay treated it like it was nothing, and went with Amy.
Amy is a BAD influence on Lindsay. A _BAD_ influence!"

"Lindsay and Amy are friends," I stressed. "They live
just miles apart in the Cincinnati area. They have a lot in
common. Lindsay is young. She wants to explore." Trish
was pouting at me now. She did not particularly care for
what I was saying to her. "May I give you some advice?"

"Sure."

"If you want Lindsay to feel the same for you that you do
for her, then... then don't suffocate her. I want to spend
all of my time with Pamela and Devon, Trish. I really do.
I wish I could be with each of them 24 hours a day. I...
I want to suffocate them. But I won't. I can't. There are
times when I keep a distance from them. Not because I want
to, but because it is healthy for each relationship. Point
is, Trish, if you take every minute of someone's life and
try to make it your own, it will only lead to you getting
hurt, and a broken heart in the end."

"I spend time away from Lindsay," Trish insisted. "I go
to the central room and spar with Kristanna every day."

"That only lasts for a short time," I told her. "The rest
of the day, you are Lindsay's shadow. Give her some space.
Give her room to breathe. Maybe she will... maybe one day,
Lindsay will feel the same for you as you do her."

"No one could make that girl happier than me. No one. I
do not think my life is complete unless she is a part of it!"

"Trish!..." I pleaded with her.

"Just to know that Lindsay is off right now having fun
with Amy instead of me... that hurts me inside! It hurts!
Amy does not care about Lindsay one bit! Amy is nothing but
a bad influence on Lindsay! A TERRIBLE influence!" Trish
became even more emotional as she added, "Amy does all sort
of nasty things to her when you're not looking, Jeremy!"

"There is no reason for you to be upset."

Trish frowned. "Jeremy, have you ever loved someone so
much that you felt completely out of control, eh? So out of
control that others around you did not understand how strong
and intense your feelings were? So out of control that you
made yourself look totally irrational? Even like an idiot?"

"I never said or even implied that you are an idiot," were
my words. "I just wish you would take a step back. I do not
believe that Lindsay wants the same things in life that you
do right now, Trish. The more you obsess over that girl, the
more you're going to be hurt if, one day, Lindsay tells you
something that you do not want to hear. I did not bring ANY
of you here for these six weeks to suffer a broken heart.
That is the last thing I want to happen to ANY of you."

"I am not obsessed with Lindsay," Trish informed me. "I
love her. Obsession is bad. Love is good." She hesitated
for a moment before adding, "I appreciate your concern for
me, Jeremy. I really do. But please... let me live my life.
I think there is the potential of something really special
for Lindsay and me down the road. If I am wrong, I will deal
with it on my own terms. I have been hurt before."

"You have never been crushed before," I sighed. "There
is a difference. You said it yourself. Your feelings for
Lindsay are out of control. You are not just going to get
hurt, Trish. You're going to get crushed if she does not
choose to be with you in the end. I don't want that."

"Lindsay is a smart girl," Trish countered. "Once she
realizes that no one would ever love her more than me, or
treat her any better than I would, she will come around.
Lindsay will belong to me, and I will belong to her."

I shook my head at her. "What happens if you're wrong?
What happens if Lindsay tells you _no_?"

"She won't," Trish said, defiantly. "She won't..."

* * *

"I think I am going to officially re-name this spot, from
now on, Devon Falls," were my words, as Devon and I gazed at
a spectacular waterfall that tumbled 150 feet down a near
vertical cliff into a turquoise-colored pool in front of us.

This was the island at its most picturesque, with tropical
flowers, mangoes, ginger and tall, majestic trees surrounding
us. A good portion of the cascading water had been turned
into a thick mist courtesy of some strong trade winds, which
ultimately resulted in a very bright, colorful rainbow.

"Devon Falls?" the young woman asked me, smiling.

"Yes, Devon Falls," I confirmed. "This waterfall here is
beautiful, so it should be named after someone beautiful."
Devon grinned and sighed in response as I added, "I cannot
think of a better choice for its name than yours, princess."

The two of us were standing upon a grassy ledge next to
the breathtaking falls on this warm, breezy day. Although
neither of us were in direct line with the oncoming water,
we were soaked anyway - thanks to the constant mist. Devon
and I were not complaining about it, though. After a long
and strenuous hike to get here, the mist felt wonderful.

Of course, one thing which looked wonderful - aside from
the scenic location - was Devon herself. The blonde and
voluptuous siren was dressed in a yellow bikini top and a
pair of tight, hip-hugging shorts, with hiking boots and
white socks adorning her feet. Her face, as always, looked
pristine and immaculate. This woman was flawless.

I smiled at Devon and motioned toward the gold necklace
that she wore. "Is there any significance in that for you,
sweetheart?" I asked, pointing at the dragon pendant which
was part of it. "You never take this necklace off."

Devon grinned and held the pendant between her thumb and
forefinger, then looked squarely at me. "Oh... this. Well,
you know that when you are a kid, you have dreams about scary
monsters? My aunt bought this necklace for me when I was
nine or ten, because I was having a bad string of terrible
nightmares." Devon glanced at the pendant and mused, "This
dragon, my aunt said, was my guardian in those dreams."

"Did it work?"

"Yes, it did. The nightmares pretty much stopped after
that. I never take this necklace off, though. Nowadays, I
look at it as a good-luck charm."

"Can I be honest and straightforward with you?"

"Of course," Devon answered. "That is one thing that I
really like about being with you, Jeremy. You and I are so
open and honest with each other. You can tell me anything.
I feel as if I can tell you anything, too."

I smiled at her again. "I am not proposing or asking for
any sort of commitment yet, but I was wondering if you are
really serious about pursuing a relationship with me. What
I mean by that is a relationship with the possibility of a
long-term and never-ending commitment."

"Marriage?"

I nodded my head. "I want to have a relationship where,
if we really like each other and everything else falls into
place, marriage would be a strong possibility down the road.
That is what I want out of life, Devon. I want to get
married and start a family. I know that you want the same,
but I just want you to clarify things so I can be certain.
I do not want to be in a relationship where there is little
or no chance of a long-term commitment down the road."

"I'm not going to jump into anything," Devon said. "But,
I am looking to settle down and start a family of my own.
What have I been saying to you in recent days, Jeremy? I
want to get married more than anything. I wanted to get
married when I was still in high school. I would very much
like to explore that possibility with you. Again, I am not
the type to jump into anything. But I would like to get to
know you more, Jeremy, and see if it leads to something..."

I smiled at her. "I would like that very much."

I felt like asking Devon how her affection for Kristanna
compared to how she felt about me, but decided to hold off
for now. I got the answer that I wanted from her. She was
interested in exploring the possibility of a true, long-term
commitment with me. At this early stage of our relationship,
there was really nothing more that I could ask for.

"You're so precious," I whispered, pecking her lips with
a gentle kiss. Standing in a beam of sunlight which had
snuck its way between the trees, Devon's pale-blonde hair
and tanned skin were glowing with an exotic healthiness. I
brought my hand to the side of her head and ran it through
her soaked hair, then gave her a smile. "So beautiful..."

"Thank you," she smiled in a gracious manner, leaning up
and kissing my cheek. "You're too good to me."

I reached forward and cupped the dragon pendant of her
gold necklace in the palm of my free hand. I hesitated for
a brief moment, then murmured, "I want to be your protector
from now on, Devon." I closed my hand around the pendant
and promised her, "No one will ever hurt you again. Not as
long as you are in my life, at least."

"I want to be your protector, too," she swooned, her blue
eyes sparkling with a mixture of love and devotion. "I care
about you, Jeremy, more than you'll ever possibly know. I
have never met a man like you... EVER."

With those words, I smiled and stepped forward, and pulled
Devon into my arms. As I pressed my lips to hers for a soft,
exploratory kiss, Devon turned me around so that my back was
facing the pool of water. I cupped and squeezed her taut,
perfect ass with my right hand, while my left massaged one of
her breasts through the bikini top that she wore. All seemed
well between us when I slipped her the tongue. But as I soon
found out, Devon was in a far more playful mood.

I was disoriented for an instant when, without warning,
Devon broke free from my embrace. Our kiss also over, she
placed both hands onto my chest and offered me a healthy
shove - forcing me to topple over the small, grassy ledge,
and come splashing down back-first into the cold water below.

Once resurfacing, I thrashed about in the natural basin
and glared up at Devon, who was giggling and chortling away.
I had only fallen about eight to ten feet, so in no way was I
hurt, but the idea of her pushing me into the water during
a romantic kiss seemed out of place. I was very surprised.
So much so, in fact, that I was temporarily speechless.

Devon laughed at me. "It seemed like you could use a
good dip in the water! So I helped you out a little bit!"

"NO!" Devon then screamed, as I flung both arms in a wild
manner, splashing her with excess water in the process. She
turned and ran for cover behind a tree, though I did not
understand why. Both of us were thoroughly soaked already.

"Oh, come on!" I called out with a smile, taunting her.
"Both of us are drenched from the mist anyway. Come back
here. You won't get anymore wet than you already are."

Devon stuck her head out from behind the humongous tree
and peered at me. "You do have a point there." Next, she
stepped back into the clearing and smiled down at me. "You
look sort of lonely, Jeremy. Could you use some company?"

"I could always use some company if you are the one who
is offering it," were my words. "Come on, princess."

"Uhhhhh!" Devon groaned, grinning at me once again. She
knelt downward and began to unlace her hiking boots. "Of
all the many things that anyone could have ever called me,
_princess_ would have been at the bottom of the list."

"Why is that?" I asked, as Devon removed her hiking boots
and then her socks. "You're a princess through and through."

"I don't feel like a princess," she frowned, now standing
up. "I have all those problems with my parents. I've had
them since I was a teen-ager. The last real relationship I
was in - with Barrett - it ended horribly. He sure never
treated me like a princess. He was the opposite of you.
Until two weeks ago, everything that I have ever wanted or
tried in life has simply led to a dead-end."

"Maybe that is your problem," I shrugged. "You have not
been around the right type of people up to this point in
your life. If you want to feel as if you are being treated
the way that you deserve to be treated, Devon, you have to
surround yourself with the right type of people." The
27-year-old smiled at me as I continued, "I think that you
are an incredible woman. You are very beautiful, which is
the most obvious. But you are also incredibly nice and
friendly, good-natured. You're a total sweetheart. Seems
to me that you would have a lot to offer the right person.
Kristanna feels the same way about you. She thinks the
absolute world of you. She really does."

"I think the world of Krissy, too," Devon murmured. "I
have never been more attracted to another woman than her.
I... Krissy... Krissy is an AWESOME person."

Now rid of her hiking boots and socks, Devon maneuvered
her way down the little hillside and then hopped into the
water with me. "Oooooh... it feels so cold!" she shrieked,
her luscious body trembling momentarily.

"You'll get used to it," I grinned, bringing her into my
arms and offering her a warm and caring embrace. "Hey, it
was cold for me when you pushed me into here too, Devon."

"I now realize that I shouldn't have did that!"

I laughed at her. "We always realize things like that
after the fact. It always turns out that way."

Still trembling as the brunt of the tumbling waterfall
smashed down just some 20 feet from where we were, Devon
embraced me as well. "You know... I've said it before and
I'll certainly say it again. But you and Krissy have been
nicer and more receptive toward me than anyone that I have
ever known before. You two have been so good to me. I am
so happy that I came to your island, Jeremy. So happy."

Devon pulled back and ended our embrace, then gazed into
my eyes and smiled. "You know, Jeremy, I almost didn't mail
in the initial application for this place. I thought about
it and thought about it and thought about it. Two weeks in,
though, I know that I made the right decision."

"Were you skeptical at first?"

"About sending the first application? Yes. I did not
know what to expect if it was to be accepted. But in the
end, I decided to take a chance. That is why I mailed it.
I figured that if I did not like the sound of this place as
I learned more about it in the future, I could always just
sit tight and stay home in Pennsylvania. The information
that I read said there was no obligation. I was pretty
convinced, though, the first time that you called and spoke
to me over the telephone, Jeremy. You sounded so incredibly
nice and friendly, so respectful and caring. It seemed like
you were someone that I just HAD to meet."

"I had the same thoughts about you, Devon, during our very
first telephone discussion a few months ago," I offered.

"I think that we are meant to be together!"

"Are you still cold?"

"No," Devon said. She no longer appeared to be shivering
here in the basin. "You were right. I got used to it fast."

I chuckled at her. "At least you got to take your boots
and socks off. I still have mine on."

Devon giggled and wrapped both arms around me. "Oh, I'm
sorry, Jeremy. I shouldn't have pushed you in like that. I
just thought it would be funny."

"I'm not complaining," I told her. "Don't worry, I am
perfectly fine. But I will get you back."

Devon pulled away and looked at me. "What?"

"You heard me," I grinned. "I'll get you back for what
you did to me. Bank on that. I promise you."

She tilted her head at me and laughed. "I'm not so sure
that I like the sound of that."

"Can I ask you a question, Devon?"

"Sure."

"It's about Camille... since she is your room-mate," I
began. "You probably know her better than anyone else on
the island thus far. Whatever you say to me, I promise to
keep to myself. But does Camille have a problem with me?"

Devon looked at me strangely. "Not that I am aware of.
Why? Why would you ask such a question?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "It just seems that I have had
time alone with all of the girls here except Camille. I
have spent most of my time with you, Pamela and Lindsay.
But I have also had time with Kristanna and Amy. I have even
had some private time with Trish, though she is so focused
upon Lindsay. Camille, though... she and I have yet to do a
single thing together in a one-on-one setting. Activities,
talk, just... whatever. I am just wondering if Camille has
any sort of a problem with me. She has been here two whole
weeks - just like you and the others - and even though I see
her everyday, I know nothing about her."

"I don't know what to tell you, Jeremy," Devon countered.
"I went cliff-diving with her and Krissy the other day, and
Camille was talking about some time alone with you. Seems
she would have approached you about that by now, though."
Devon shrugged her shoulders as well. "I don't know."

"Kristanna says that Camille is more into other women
than she is men," I commented. "What do you think?"

"Perhaps," Devon responded. "I know that she was really
aggressive with me during our first night on the island. I
had never been with another woman before, but Camille tried
seducing me. I held off, but wound up having sex with her a
day or two later anyway. I also know that Camille has tried
to be really aggressive with Lindsay. I guess before Lindsay
lost her virginity to you and Trish, Jeremy, Camille tried
coming onto her. Trish was with them at the time, too. Amy
was there too, if I am not mistaken. But, Lindsay was not
ready to have sex yet, and it made Camille mad when Trish
told her to back off. Camille told me all about later that
evening. Camille wanted to be the one who took Lindsay's
virginity. She wanted it badly."

"Really?" So did Amy.

Devon nodded her head. "I think Camille wanted to take
Lindsay's virginity for all the wrong reasons, though. She
wanted to take it so it would be a trophy on her mantle. You
and Trish, though - from what I hear, at least - wound up
treating Lindsay like a queen. Everything the two of you did
with her was right. You put Lindsay's pleasure way ahead of
your own." Devon hesitated for a moment, then pouted. "I
guess maybe you could say that I am a trophy on Camille's
mantle, too. She was the first woman that I ever had sex
with. She was aggressive and seduced me big-time. I do not
believe that Camille sees that time we had as special at
all. As things turned out, neither do I."

"You wish that Kristanna was your first girl, right?"

"Oh yes," Devon answered. "I know that Krissy cares about
me. Everything with Krissy would have been totally pure and
wholesome. It would have been right... awesome. I know that
Krissy would never once think of me as a trophy."

"Camille looks at you as a trophy?"

"Maybe," Devon shrugged. "I don't know. I just wish that
it was with Krissy. Not only does she care about me, but I
care about her, too. That is the most important thing. Let
me just say that it would have been the ideal scenario."

I smiled. "You love Kristanna. And she loves you."

Devon pecked the side of my face with a kiss. "I love you
too, Jeremy. I love you even more each and every single day.
In fact, I love you more than anyone I've ever loved before!"

I placed my hands on either of her shoulders and smiled.
"I love you too, princess. What am I going to do with you?"

After bringing Devon into my arms once again, I sought and
then found her mouth with my very own for a tender, heartfelt
kiss. Our tongues got into the action as well, slipping and
sliding together between our pressed lips. When Devon hooked
a single leg around my waist within the water, my right hand
slid southward and massaged that lush, sweet ass of hers.

"Are you going to want to spend the night with me again?"
I asked once our lips finally parted ways.

"I'd love to, but I already have other plans," Devon said.
"Krissy and I are going to have a slumber party with Pamela
and Amy in their room. I think Camille will be there, too.
Actually, it's been planned for awhile. The five of us had a
slumber party last week - on Monday night - too. I think the
idea is for us to have them one night a week from now on."

"You girls had a slumber party last Monday?" I inquired,
somewhat surprised. "I did not know that."

"It was a lot of fun," Devon nodded. "Krissy was quite
the comedian. She had everyone in stitches. But the main
topic of the evening was ghost stories. We shared a lot of
ghost stories. We made all of them up, but it was real fun
anyway. Gosh... we must not have went to sleep until three."

"Three o'clock in the morning?"

"Yep."

"What about Trish and Lindsay? You mentioned everyone
but them. They are not going to the slumber party?"

"I do not know if they are going tonight or not," Devon
answered. "Last week, Trish decorated her suite with a
bunch of burning candles and a ton of flowers, and made love
to Lindsay all night long. We wanted them to come, but Trish
said she had it all planned. So there was no way."

I frowned. "Trish has a lot of things planned for her
and Lindsay. I wonder if Lindsay has the same plans?"

"What do you mean?"

I shook my head. "Nothing. Forget it. So... I suppose
that this slumber party is a girls-only thing?"

"I am sure that the others would not mind if you wanted
to come to the party, Jeremy. I know they wouldn't."

"No... that's okay," I relented. "I like the idea of all
of you, or at least most of you, spending a lot of time with
each other in the same place like that. Though I would like
to, I don't need to intrude. You girls need your time alone
and away from me. I am perfectly fine with that."

Besides, I had the voyeur room. I could very easily sit
back and eavesdrop on their slumber party. Thus, I already
knew how _I_ was going to spend my evening...

Devon giggled. "Maybe a big orgy will break out tonight!"

I laughed as well. "I suppose you would like that?"

"You know I would," she grinned, licking her lips for
emphasis. "That is another attraction of this island for
me. I can let all of my inhibitions go and, for once in my
life, be wild and carefree. I am having such a blast. This
is like my ultimate fantasy come to reality. Not only is
there you, Jeremy, but all of the other girls are BEAUTIFUL!
This is like a centerfold convention, or something, but with
a very exotic and kinky twist. I love it here!"

"But all of the centerfolds are bi-sexual," I smirked.
"And they are all hot for your body."

"Yours too!" Devon chirped.

* * *

After taking a very long and relaxing shower later that
evening, I was just about to venture into the nearby voyeur
room to eavesdrop on the aforementioned slumber party when
there were a series of gentle knocks on the main entrance
of my personal suite. Naturally, I wondered who was at the
door. At the dinner table hours ago, Trish claimed that,
unlike last week, she and Lindsay were going to attend the
slumber party with all of the other ladies. Since it was
9:30pm and the festivities were originally slated to begin a
half-hour ago, I wondered to myself which of the ladies had
strayed from the others and made her way to my door.

"Devon," I speculated out loud, nodding my head. After
all, Devon was the most likely candidate. Or were _ALL_ of
the ladies waiting for me outside of my personal suite right
now? Did all of them want to gang-bang me? _Again_? Soon,
the proverbial million dollar question was finally answered.

"Lindsay?"

Upon walking over to the door and then opening it, I was
overcome with an equal feeling of curious surprise and mad
lust. Lindsay, the humble and innocent 18-year-old from the
great state of Ohio, was standing before me right now dressed
in a pajama outfit which had a definite tropical flavor.

The design of Lindsay's pajama suit had a bold burst of
Hawaiian-style flora in lush reds, greens and oranges on a
rich mango background. The deep V-neckline of her top was
trimmed with a flora embroidered band, which added quite a
festive touch to the outfit. Lindsay's long pajama pants
matched up perfectly with her thin satin top.

It should be noted, however, that the young lady was not
wearing any shoes or socks. Thus, her little, bare feet were
on display. Much like the rest of her body, those toes with
the pink polished nails looked good enough to kiss.

"Hi Jeremy," Lindsay greeted me in a shy, tentative voice,
glancing back over her shoulder as if she was concerned that
someone was following her. "Can I come into your room?"

"Sure," I responded, stepping aside and motioning for her
to step in. Confused, I glanced down the hallway as well,
but did not see a soul in sight.

Lindsay quickly slipped past me and closed the door behind
her on her own. She then took a deep breath and let out a
definite sigh of relief. There was something wrong with her.

Both curious and concerned because of her uncharacteristic
demeanor, I tilted my head my head and looked at Lindsay with
an inquisitive expression. "Honey? What's wrong?"

Lindsay gulped her throat and looked at me with strange
eyes. "I need a really big favor! Can I stay with you here
in your suite tonight, Jeremy? PLEASE?"

Obviously, Lindsay was not in an erotic or sexual mood at
all - which was the usual case when one of my lovely guests
requested to spend the evening with me. Instead, I got the
sense that Lindsay was running from something. Was she
frightened? Did Lindsay get into an argument with one of the
other ladies? Did Amy push her too far in a bondage session?
I really had no idea what her problem was.

"Why do you want to stay with me in my room?" I asked. I
placed both hands atop her shoulders and demanded, "What's
wrong, baby? Is everything okay? Why... why aren't you
at the slumber party with the others? You have a fight?"

Lindsay shook her head and fretted, "I just want to be
away from Trish for the night!"

"Trish? WHAT?" Now, I was flabbergasted. "Lindsay...
what happened? Did Trish do something bad to you?"

The little minx went over to my bed and sat down upon its
edge, then used both hands to conceal her face from me. She
vehemently shook her head and whined, "I like Trish, Jeremy!
I really do!" Lindsay removed her hands from her eyes and
looked directly at me. "She has been so nice, so good, to
me. I... I love having sex with her. B-But..." Lindsay
shook her head again. "But I cannot STAND IT when Trish
starts talking about all that mushy stuff with me!"

"Mushy?"

"You know!" Lindsay sniveled. "Mushy! Like when Trish
starts telling me how much she loves me! How much I mean to
her! For the past couple of days, ALL I HAVE HEARD from her
is how much she loves me... how much she wants to spend the
rest of her life with me!" Now, Lindsay appeared as if she
was about to cry. "Jeremy, I only met Trish two weeks ago!
Not only that, but I'm also 18! _18_! I am not looking to
settle down with ANYONE yet! Not for a few years, at least."

"Did you tell her that?"

"It doesn't do any good!" Lindsay pined. "Trish will not
listen to me! I mean, I like her and all. I really do! She
is the nicest woman that I have ever known in my whole life.
Trish has been so good to me! But I... I... cannot stand it
when she starts talking to me that way." Lindsay reached out
and grasped my right wrist with both of her hands. "Please,
Jeremy! If just for one night... let me stay with you. It
would be such a relief just to be away from Trish."

"Have you SPECIFICALLY told Trish that you do not want
her to speak to you in this manner?"

"No..." Lindsay sniffed. "I... I just tell her that I'm
young. I just lost my virginity. I... I want to explore.
Trish will not listen! She just says that four weeks from
now, when we all go home, I will feel the same way about her
that she does about me. Trish even says that she is leaving
her family behind to come and live with me in Ohio! Jeremy,
Trish has spent her whole life in Toronto! How can Trish be
willing to sacrifice all of her friends and family in Canada
for someone that she has known for just two weeks?"

I sat down next to Lindsay upon the bed and put my arm
around her shoulder. "You need to tell her, sweetheart.
TELL Trish that you do not want her to say these things to
you. Tell her specifically, and be FIRM about it. And if
she still persists, tell her that you have no other choice
than to come to me about it. One way or another, I would
make certain that Trish would not say those things again.
YOU have to make the first move, though."

"I don't want her to get into any trouble at all with
you," Lindsay screeched, wiping a few tears from her eyes.
"I mean... a lot of this is probably my own fault. I guess
that Trish has been saying these things to me for the better
part of a week, really, instead of a few days. I... I... I
should have told her that I was not interested the first day
that she started talking about love and... com-commitment.
I think... I think maybe... maybe... I led her... on."

"How did you lead her on?"

"By not being up-front and truthful with Trish at the very
beginning," Lindsay answered. "I mean... she says all these
things to me. I should have flat-out told her _NO_ from the
very get-go. Instead, I... I just sit there and listen to
her. Then... then I'm having sex with her. I have had sex
with Trish every single day since I lost my v-virginity. I
have led... led her on."

"You have to tell Trish SPECIFICALLY that you do not want
to have any sort of a relationship or commitment with her
beyond the boundaries of this island," I instructed Lindsay.
"You have to tell Trish that when you go home in four weeks,
the two of you will go your separate ways."

Her head lowered, Lindsay was sobbing ever-so-gently. I
reached out and touched her chin, then brought her eyes in
line with mine. They were saturated with unfortunate tears.
"What's wrong, honey? Is there something else?"

"That if I tell Trish I don't want a relationship with her
beyond the island, she will... won't want anything to do with
me from now on. I... I don't want that."

I shook my head at her. "I'm lost, sweetheart..."

"THE SEX!" Lindsay exclaimed, again shaking her head. "I
am getting to the point where I cannot control myself, or my
urges! If I tell Trish to back away from me, she... she may
not want to have sex with me anymore!" Lindsay began to lose
control of her emotions as she shrieked, "I don't want Trish
to be in l-love with me. I just want to have sex with her!"

I brought Lindsay into my arms and she proceeded to cry
on my shoulder. This was quite the conversation that we were
having here. "Trish has to know that you feel this way,
sweetheart," was my advice. "You say that you don't want to
hurt her. The longer you wait until you tell her how you
feel, the more hurt and pain she will have as a result."

"I n-never thought I would b-be this way," Lindsay said.
"The sex... the lust... it is consuming me! Since I lost my
virginity, sex is all I think about! And Trish... oh dear
Lord, she is so hot, so beautiful. Trish reminds me of the
fitness model from the magazine that I told you about last
week. Do you remember, Jeremy? She... she also reminds me
of those women in the dirty magazines that my father u-used
to get when he was st-still alive..."

"You read magazines like that?"

Lindsay pulled away from me and nodded her head, but not
before sniffing her nose. "Uh huh. My dad used to get them.
He had a secret stash of them, but I knew where they were. I
would sneak peeks at them whenever I could."

"Didn't you say your father was a minister?"

Lindsay shrugged her shoulders. "Ministers have desires
too, you know. Though, I'm certain that mom never knew that
he had those magazines. When my dad died, I gathered up all
of his magazines and threw most of them into the garbage. I
did not want his memory to be tarnished if mom or one of my
sisters were to stumble upon the magazines one day."

"Did you keep any for yourself?"

"I think I kept three," Lindsay confided. "They are in
the trunk of my car. Those three were my favorites. One of
the models... Trish reminds me of her a lot, too. There were
certain times when I would stare at pictures of that girl
and I would... f-finger myself. I was... I-I was obsessed...
with her for the longest time. Her body, her look. I
think... I think I still am. I know I am! When I am having
sex with Trish, I think about the model sometimes... Torrie."

"The model's name was Torrie? A centerfold?"

Lindsay nodded her head. "Uh huh. Trish reminds me so
much of her that it isn't funny. They are both blonde with
mega-loaded bodies and curves. I would... I would finger
myself to sleep a lot of nights, fantasizing about Torrie..."

"Honey, you need to cut Trish off at the pass before she
falls any deeper in love with you," I implored, returning to
our original topic. "Let me tell you - that woman is so much
in love with you. She is head-over-her-heels in love with
you. You need to come clean and tell Trish that, for all
intents and purposes, all you want from her is a sex-only
relationship. If Trish does not like that, or it hurts her,
she will simply have to deal with it. But if you continue
to have sex with Trish and not tell her your true feelings -
in essence, leading her on as you say - you will only hurt
her more in the end. That is what you told me, honey - you
do not want to hurt Trish. But you have no other choice.
Either hurt Trish right now, or completely devastate her in
two, three, four weeks." I shrugged my shoulders and ended,
"Whatever way you decide to do it, it is up to you."

I shook my head. "I'm sorry, but it's best that you tell
Trish this yourself, Lindsay."

"But I don't want to hurt her!"

I shrugged my shoulders once again. "You can either hurt
her now or devastate her later. It's up to you."

Lindsay made two fists and flailed them about in a fit of
anger. "BUT JEREMY!"

"You need to tell her yourself," I reiterated.

"WHY WON'T YOU HELP ME?" she exclaimed, upset.

Stunned that Lindsay had screamed at me - as well as the
fact that this little flower was even capable of raising her
voice in such a manner - I stood up from the bed and glared
at her. "You need to settle down, Lindsay." I shook my head
and warned her, "Don't come into my room and scream at me.
Don't you ever do that again without proper justification."
I could not believe it, but Lindsay had made _me_ angry!

She took a deep, ragged breath and sighed in response.
"I am so sorry, Jeremy," Lindsay offered, her voice hushed.
"I have no right to speak to you that way. If I think about
it, you have been even nicer to me than Trish has. Look at
what you did for my family with the money you sent them. I
have no right. I am so sorry." Lindsay hung her head low
and sulked, "Maybe it's best that I get going now."

"I thought you wanted to hide from Trish," I said, as the
18-year-old rose to her feet and looked over at me.

"I do," she frowned. "But I disrespected you. For that,
I am sorry. If there is one thing that I have learned from
my dealings with the Lord, it is that you do not disrespect
or disgrace the people placed above you. Authority figures,
I mean. You are the authority figure of this island, Jeremy.
You own it. You are the boss. I disrespected you." Lindsay
shook her head and pined, "Can you ever forgive me?"

"Of course I can. And, I do." I sat down upon the bed.

"Thank you," Lindsay nodded. "I'll be going now. I don't
want to take up any more of your time."

"Hey," I insisted, "you're not taking up any of my time.
If you want to stay, you are more than welcome to. And I do
not like you thinking of me as an authority figure, because
I'm not. I am simply the host here. That is all."

Lindsay still appeared crestfallen. "I am going to do
what I should have done in the first place. Instead of
asking you or someone else on the island to talk to Trish
for me, I am going to pray and ask God for the strength to
do it myself. I made this mess by not being up-front with
her at the beginning. Now, it's time for me to clean it up.
I really don't want to hurt Trish at all. But you are right,
Jeremy, because it seems that I have no other choice. Maybe
I should think about ending whatever association that Trish
and I have with each other... the s-sex included."

I motioned for Lindsay to come back to the bed and take a
seat beside me. "I don't want you to leave, sweetheart. I
could use the company tonight. All of the other girls, I
guess, are at Pamela and Amy's slumber party." I nodded my
head at her. "I would appreciate it if you stayed."

Lindsay frowned, but took a deep breath and seemed to
accept my invitation. Apparently, she still felt guilty
about raising her voice at me. I attempted to quell her
worries by extending my arm and gently pulling her to me
until she was seated next to me upon the bed once again.

"There... that's much better," I smiled, planting a
little kiss on the side of her head for emphasis.

There was that trademark blush from Lindsay again. It
never failed to drive me crazy! "Thank you, Jeremy, for
being so nice. Not just to me, but toward the others too."

"Obviously, you don't have a whole lot of experience when
it comes to dealing with people and relationships," I mused.
"It is unfortunate, but getting hurt and hurting others...
sometimes it is a way of life. We all go through that at
one time or another, honey. You have to get used to it.
There will come a time when someone in the future will hurt
you as well. It's a part of life."

"I dumped my only serious boyfriend, Eddie, back home in
Ohio," Lindsay said. "But it was more out of anger than
anything else. I never felt guilty about it because one day,
he demanded that I have sex with him, or our relationship was
over. I was not ready to have sex yet. I told him bye-bye."

"You have told me about Eddie before," I nodded.

"It's just that I really like Trish," Lindsay sulked. "She
is so nice. She has been so good to me. I just don't like
her the same way that she likes me, though. Trish is a great
person and all, you know, but all I really want is to have
sex with her." Lindsay smiled and added, "That, and video
games. I love playing video games with Trish. I wish my
sister, Alison, was into playing video games like Trish is."

"I understand what you are saying, dear. You like Trish
and do not want to hurt her, but have no other choice. As I
said, you can hurt her now or totally devastate her later.
As time passes, she will fall deeper and deeper in love with
you. The more in love Trish is, the more hurt she will have
when you tell her how you feel. It's best to do it now."

Lindsay sulked, but nodded her head. "I know. The next
time that I see her, at least. Maybe tomorrow morning."

"Can I ask you aomething?" I looked deep into those blue
eyes and stressed, "I want you to be honest with me."

"You can ask me whatever, Jeremy."

It was time for me to follow through on the promise that
I made to Pamela during our voyage home from Peru the other
night. "What's this with you and Amy lately? Word has
spread rapidly. You and her have been doing some... pretty
outlandish things together, to say the least. How did all
of this start? What's causing it? What's the deal?"

"I don't know," Lindsay murmured.

"What do you mean, you don't know?"

"I don't know."

I took a deep breath and offered her a disapproving glare.
"I'm going to ask you something, Lindsay, and I want you to
be 100 percent honest with me." She nodded her head as I
stressed, "I'm serious. 100 percent honest. Can you do that
for me? Can you give me a 100 percent honest answer?"

Suddenly nervous, she nodded again. "Yes, I can."

"Has Amy hurt you?" I looked deep into her eyes, trying
to gauge a reaction. "Has she done anything to you that you
regret, or were not in favor of? Did she force you, or poke
and prod you, to get you to try the things you've been doing
lately with her? Be honest. This is for your own good."

Lindsay hesitated for a moment. It was a long pause; much
too long for my patience level right now. Was she afraid?
Scared? Ashamed? Embarrassed? Finally, her words came out,
"Everything we have done has been 100 percent consensual."

I chuckled gently. "How did this come about? How can you
lose your virginity one week, then derive pleasure from Amy
tying you up and torturing you the next? It should have took
you years to get from point A to point B... not a week."

"Amy is not torturing me," Lindsay sniped.

"She is inflicting pain upon you, then."

"There is a difference, Jeremy." The young woman gulped
her throat two times in a row. "When Amy placed me into
bondage for the first time the other night, I NEVER had such
an adrenaline rush." Lindsay shook her head and pressed
onward, "My hands and legs were bound to the bed. I could
not move. Then Amy blindfolded me. I... I had no control.
I was powerless to stop her as she whipped me with a strap.
The pain... it went through me like a knife. Coupled with
the helplessness, I... it..." Lindsay hid her face in shame
momentarily. "Amy used her... tongue... on me. She used
her tongue... to lick... to lick... to lick my ass. It...
was so nasty. I... had no control. No control whatsoever.
I was powerless to stop her. And it was exhilerating."

"You enjoyed Amy whipping you with that strap?"

"God, yes!" she sighed. "I'd never been more turned on!"

Wow. My eyes wide in response, I simply stared at Lindsay
for several seconds. I was not expecting such an answer from
her. One thing was for certain, however. I believed her.
Lindsay had definitely given me an honest answer.

Just then, someone knocked on the door of my bedroom.

"Jeremy?" came a somewhat distressed voice from the other
side of the door. "Jeremy, are you in there? It's Trish."

I looked at Lindsay, who frowned and nodded her head at
me. "Yes, I'm here," I called out.

"Is Lindsay with you?" Trish asked me through the closed
door. "Have you seen her at all? I'm worried about her. I
cannot find her anywhere. She is not at the slumber party.
I cannot find her anywhere in the mansion and, because it is
dark outside, I am worried about her. Kristanna told me to
come here because you may know where she is."

"Trish really cares about you," I told Lindsay in a quiet,
hushed tone. "You want me to let her know that you're here?"
Lindsay nodded her head and then proclaimed in a loud tone
of voice, "I'm in here, Trish. I'm with Jeremy. Hold on a
second." Lindsay stood up from the bed and strolled over to
the door, then opened it. "Hi Trish."

"Hi sweetie!" Trish stepped forward and offered Lindsay a
relieved hug. She then placed both hands atop the little
teen-ager's shoulders and looked deep into her eyes. "I was
so worried about you! I thought that you and I decided that
we would go to the party with the other girls tonight."
Trish glanced past Lindsay's shoulder and acknowledged my
presence with a nod of the head. At least she realized that
I was here, I told myself inwardly. Soon enough, though,
Trish's attention was focused back on Lindsay. "Were you
and Jeremy busy doing something together?..."

The young blonde looked back at me for just an instant,
then reached out and grasped Trish's left hand with her
right. "We need to go someplace and talk in private."

"Oh?" Trish countered, obviously curious.

"Yes, we do," Lindsay confirmed. "I need to talk to you
about something in private. Because it is private, I do not
want any of the others to be around to hear it."

Trish looked worried. "Is everything okay?"

"We need to talk," Lindsay insisted, taking Trish by the
hand and guiding her out of my private suite. Before closing
the door, however, Lindsay smiled and waved her free hand at
me. It seemed to be her way of telling me _thank you_ for
the little discussion that we just had.

"You're welcome," I gently said, after the door had shut.

* * *

"I am SO SORRY, Lindsay!" Trish exclaimed moments later,
as I flipped on the audio switch here in the voyeur room for
the recreation room. With the surveillance camera picking
up their every move and displaying them on the big monitor
in front of me, I had the best seat in the house. Obviously,
Lindsay was about to shatter Trish's kind, loving heart.

"I never meant to hurt or upset you with what I said about
your friendship with Amy," Trish continued, trying to stress
her point. "Really, I should not have said anything at all.
You are right, Lindsay. You can be friends with whomever you
want. You can even... have sex... with whomever you want."
Trish did not sound all too sincere with that prior comment.

What was this about Amy, though? Did Trish tell Lindsay
the same thing that she had earlier confided in me? That
Amy was a bad influence on Lindsay? Obviously, Trish did
not approve of their newfound friendship at all.

"I came to the island this summer to kick back, relax and
have fun," Lindsay said in response. "Jeremy has created a
wonderful atmosphere for all of us. Jeremy and Kristanna, I
guess. I did not come here to fall in love."

"I did not come to the island to fall in love, either!"
Trish fretted. "But unfortunately, I did..."

Lindsay shook her head in a negative manner. "Trish, I
think you are a really nice girl and all, but there are so
many differences between us. We're like night and day."

"How so?"

Lindsay held both hands out. "First off, there is the
age thing. You're 12 years older than me."

"So?" Trish countered. "Big deal. I've heard of men in
their 60's and 70's marrying women who are only 21. It may
seem like a big difference to you because you are so young,
Lindsay, but it's really not. 12 years is nothing. I am
30 and you are 18." Trish was silent for a short while,
thinking things over. "There IS a difference, I guess, but
I certainly do not think it is a glaring difference. I am
still young enough to be able to relate to you."

"You live in Toronto and I live in Cincinnati."

Trish shrugged her shoulders and mused, "I could move to
Cincinnati." Lindsay shook her head once again as Trish
added, "I would move there in a heartbeat if I thought you
wanted me to, honey. I really would."

"And leave all of your family in Canada behind?"

"Some things are more important than family," Trish said.
"At least it's that way to me."

"My family is the most important thing in the world to
me," Lindsay remarked. "Especially after my father died
last year. My mom and my three sisters - Gina, Jennifer and
Alison. I did not know just how important all of them were
to me until my father passed away last November. Without
their love and support, I would be totally lost."

"I love my family very, very much," Trish told her. "I
don't want you to get me wrong there. I also love living in
Canada. Aside from a weekend trip to Niagara Falls when I
was 11 or 12, I never even left Canada until coming to this
island. I'm a Canuck through and through, trust me. But I
would move away and relocate for the right person, Lindsay.
I would leave my family behind for true love. For you..."

"How do you know that I am that proverbial right person
for you, though?" Lindsay wondered. "I could be mistaken,
but I think we've been here for 16 days. You and I have
known each other for 16 days, Trish. That's all."

"Jeremy has known Pamela and Devon for that same amount of
time," Trish reminded. "He loves both of them very much, I
think. You can tell by how he acts around them."

"Pamela and Devon are each the _flavor of the day_ for
Jeremy right now," Lindsay said, which caused my eyes to
narrow in an even mixture of surprise and anger. I could
not believe that Lindsay was capable of such a hateful,
snide remark about me. "It could be Amy tomorrow. Who
knows? Maybe Jeremy will set his sights on Camille next.
Maybe even Kristanna. I know that she really likes him."

"You are definitely not the _flavor of the day_ for me,
Lindsay," Trish stressed to her. "I'm not here to propose
anything to you, or ask for a commitment. I... I just want
us to be friends again - like we were before. I don't ever
want you to feel the need to HIDE from me. As I said, I am
so sorry for making you upset with what I said about your
friendship with Amy. It was out of line for me to say that."

Lindsay appeared agitated. "I am not looking for any
type of commitment, Trish. I'm really not."

"Then we can be friends," Trish conceded. "I'd rather be
friends with you than nothing at all."

"How can we be friends when I know that you have these
feelings about me?" Lindsay inquired. I figured that she
got the same impression from Trish's last statement that I
did. In no way did Trish want to be _just friends_ with
her. Lindsay may be young, but she was smart and intuitive.
"I'm only 18, remember. I lost my virginity 12 days ago. I
want to go out and explore the world a little before even
thinking of entering into a commitment with anyone."

"I'm not asking you for a commitment of any type," Trish
responded. "All I want is to be friends right now."

Lindsay took a few seconds to contemplate things, but
eventually shook her head and remained steadfast. "I am
sorry, Trish. But I think it's best that we go our separate
ways. I... I just don't like you as much as you like me. I
don't want to hurt you any more than I already have. I... it
is over between us, Trish. It is over." Before Trish was
given the opportunity to say anything in rebuttal, Lindsay
turned and exited the recreation room in a hurry. She ran
down the hallway crying, both hands covering her face...

Stunned and perhaps finally realizing that she did not
have a future with Lindsay, Trish simply stood there with an
empty, emotionless expression for several seconds. Then, as
I looked on from the voyeur room with a heavy heart, a single
tear emanated from Trish's right eye and streaked down her
face. An instant later, the dam burst. I felt a tidal wave
of sorrow and sympathy for Trish as a thick sheet of tears
literally flowed right down her otherwise lovely face.

I am one of millions and millions of people in this crazy
world of ours who has been shot down and/or rejected by the
person whom they loved more than anyone else, so I certainly
understood what Trish was going through right now.

20 years after my ex-fiancee left me standing at the altar
for - of all things - another woman, I _STILL_ have trouble
coming to grips with what Victoria did to me. Even before
Victoria, there was a girl in high school that I had a major
crush on. Her name was April. When I was a teen-ager living
in New Jersey, April was the love of my life. But no matter
what I tried, I could never get April to go out with me. We
were friends, but through three years of trying, I was never
able to get April to look at me as anything but a friend.
In fact, I would most likely still be in love with April
today - a good 21 years after last seeing her - had I never
moved away from New Jersey.

So, I certainly had a lot of personal experience with
what was happening to Trish right now. She was totally in
love with Lindsay, and wanted to be with her. I wish that
things could be different between them, but it appeared as
if that would never be the case. It was really unfortunate
because I thought Trish would give Lindsay an excellent life.

If I could, I would have stepped into the surveillance
monitor directly in front of me here within the voyeur room,
magically teleporting myself to Trish's location, so I could
give her a reassuring, sympathetic hug. She was in serious
need of one right now. Trish had crumpled down to the floor
of the recreation room and was crying as if her very reason
for living had been brutally stripped away from her.

Then, I suddenly realized, perhaps it had...

* * *

"Hey... what's wrong?"

No more than five minutes after I left the voyeur room
and ventured off to the recreation room here in the mansion,
my words had caused Trish, who was still hunched upon the
carpet, to look up at me through her tear-stained eyes. She
was still sobbing, but not quite as badly as before.

"What are you... what are you doing here?"

I shrugged my shoulders and answered, "I came down here
to play pinball." I tilted my head at her. "You know that
I don't like to see any of you girls cry. What's up?"

Obviously, I had to play _dumb_ here. I could not let
Trish know that I was aware that Lindsay had rejected her
because, needless to say, I had eavesdropped on their prior
discussion. The only person on the island who knew that the
voyeur room existed (besides me, of course) was Kristanna. I
wanted things to stay that way - for obvious reasons.

Trish shook her head and flailed her right hand about in
a barrage of hurtful emotion in response to my question about
what was wrong with her. "Everything that you have ever
wanted, Jeremy," she began. "Everything that you have ever
dreamed about, ever fantasized about." Trish shook her head
again. "It's right there. Right there in front of you. You
see it every single day. You smell it everyday. It is right
there. Right there... in front of you." Trish paused for a
brief moment, then sniffed her nose. "But no matter what,
you can't touch it. You can never have it." She hung her
head low and sulked, "Do you know what that feels like, eh?"

"Yes," I replied, without hesitation. "I know exactly
what it feels like." I slowly stepped forward and closed
the distance between us, then knelt down directly in front
of Trish. "I think everyone knows what it feels like, dear.
We've all been through it at one point or another."

"It's... it's L-L-Lin-Lind...say," Trish stammered, wiping
away an excess of tears from her eyes. "I c-can't be-believe
it, but she is not interested in m-me."

"Then you have to move on, Trish," I suggested to her.
"Move onto someone else. You have to forget about Lindsay."

Trish let out a shrill whine. "How can I forget about
her when she is everything that I have ever dreamed of?"

"Because you have to," I insisted. "You just have to.
Until the person comes along that is truly right for you,
and you're truly right for him or her, someone better will
always pop up out of nowhere. That is how it is, at least I
believe, until you find your soul-mate."

"I love that girl more than life itself!" Trish cried.
"I just don't understand why I cannot be with her!"

"You can't be with Lindsay because it is not meant to be,"
I countered. "Why drag yourself through the mud like this,
Trish? You're doing nothing but hurting yourself. Lindsay
does not like you the same way that you like her. As much
as I hate to say this, but... nothing will ever change that.
I'm sorry, but Lindsay will never love you. And the more you
pursue her, the more she will distance herself from you."

"L-Lindsay spends most of her time with Amy now!" Trish
complained. "What does she see in Amy that she doesn't see
in me? All I want to do is love Lindsay! Love her forever!
All Amy wants is to have sex with Lindsay! And USE her!"
Trish hung her head low and began to cry once again. "You
know something, Jeremy? You were... right earlier... in
what you said to me. I'm... I am obsessed with Lindsay."

"I know you are."

"Her face, her eyes, her mouth, her hair... her tight,
little body, her hands, arms, legs, feet. Her voice. The
way her eyebrows shoot upward when she laughs. The way she
tilts her head when you talk to her. Lindsay is... perfect.
Do you... do you know what it is like to feel this way about
someone, Jeremy? To be obsessed? But for that person to
have absolutely no interest in you at all in return?"

I took a few seconds before answering, "Not sure about
being _OBSESSED_, but there was this one girl a long time
ago that I was very much in love with."

Trish made eye contact with me. "Your ex-fiancee?"

"No, this was before Victoria. It was back when I was
still going to high school in New Jersey. Her name was
April. I loved that girl so, so much. But... I could never
get her to look at me as anything more than a friend."

"Why not? You're a great guy."

I offered a wry smile. "Let me tell you a story. I was
age 15 in the tenth grade. I had never spoken to a girl
before in my life. One day, though, a girl named April
walked up to me and said _hello_. That's it - hello. I was
so incredibly shy then. She said hello to me, I kind of
looked at her, my face turned red, and then I walked off."
Trish giggled - through her misery about Lindsay - as I
added, "That was the first time a girl had ever said one
word to me. I was so shy, so embarrassed. I could do
nothing but stare at her for a few seconds, then walk off.
I couldn't even bring myself to say anything to her."

"I was never shy in my life, fortunately," Trish mused.

"Anyway, a couple weeks later, I switched a few of my
classes around and, lo and behold, I sat at the desk right
in front of April in history. She was so very outgoing and
friendly that, eventually, I felt comfortable talking to
her. One day, I found the courage within myself to ask her
out on a date. A pizza date, actually. It was Friday, and
I asked April to go out with me after school on Monday. I
wanted to take her to the local pizza place, my treat." A
smile came to my face as I recalled, "She said _yes_."

"I thought you said April never liked you that way?"

"Hold on, there's more," I told Trish. "Much more. I
went home that day - Friday. I was in love. I thought
about April all weekend. She was my new girlfriend. I
called my family in Ohio and told them I had a girlfriend.
Everyone was so excited for me."

"When Monday came, though, and the time and place for us
to meet after school, April was nowhere to be found."

Trish gasped. "She stood you up?"

I laughed. "Yeah, she did. I couldn't find her anywhere.
I even went to her house, but she wasn't there. Or, just did
not answer the door. I walked all the way home and threw a
fit. I even stayed home from school for two or three days."

"But the next time I saw April, on the ensuing Thursday or
Friday, she was all happy and smiles - like nothing happened.
I wanted to ask her why she did not show up for our date, but
I wasn't that bold yet. This girl was still being nice to me
and, believe it or not, I began to think she forgot about the
date completely. A few weeks went by, I asked her out again.
April said that she had a boyfriend."

"To lessen what is already an incredibly long story, I
must have asked April out 15 or 20 times in high school.
That would be harassment in many people's eyes, but I was
just a kid, and I did not know any better. Plus, April
liked me as a friend. I asked her out 15 or 20 times, as I
said, but she always had an excuse for me. Again, April
liked me. She would actually call me on the telephone at
night and we would talk - as friends - for hours. She would
even ask me for advice about her various boyfriends."

"I became very open and honest with her. I loved her, I
wanted to make her happy. I used to write her letters saying
just how much I loved her. I even wrote her poetry. I would
do anything for that girl. I remember one time, I rode my
bike through a driving snowstorm from my house to hers, just
so I could return a movie to the video store so she would
not have to pay a late fee. I lived a good three or four
miles away from her. There were big hills to climb, too."

"I know ALL ABOUT trying to ride a bike through the snow,"
Trish nodded. "Remember that I live in Canada."

"So, when we became seniors, it got to the point where I
basically demanded to know why April would not go out with
me," I continued. "It seemed that she went out with every
single guy in the school EXCEPT me. April had told me in
the past that I was the nicest guy she had ever met. I even
asked her once if she did not like the way I looked, and if
that was the reason why. Was I unattractive to her? Was I
ugly? But she said I looked fine. So... this one day, I
demanded a reason. We're friends, I'm a nice guy, I look
fine to her... why doesn't she like me?"

Trish looked tentative. "What did April say to you?"

I frowned. "She did not want to answer at first. But I
kept pressing. I told her that no matter what it was, as
long as she was honest with me, my feelings would not be
hurt. I was at the point where, basically, I wanted the
truth. Eventually, I got the answer that I wanted."

"What was it?"

I sniffed my nose, remembering that exact moment in time,
and took a deep breath. "April said that if she and I were
to go out together, I... I would have... depressed... her."

Trish looked at me through narrow eyes. "You would have
depressed her? What does that mean?"

"Because I have battled depression and anxiety attacks my
whole life," I sighed. "The girl of my dreams - at that time
in my life, at least - did not want to go out with me because
I would have, of all things, made her feel sad and depressed
by just being around her. My presence... would have brought
her down." I sighed once again, then shook my head as Trish
stared at me, wide-eyed. "I was very lonely back then. My
parents were always bickering and fighting. I had moved away
from my two brothers and one sister when my father was
transferred from Ohio to New Jersey in his job. I only had
a few friends. I hated it in New Jersey. I was very, very
lonely, and I had a lot of other problems."

Trish was stunned. "And the girl that you were in love
with - spent years going after, I presume - did not want to
go out with you because you would have DEPRESSED her?"

"Yeah," I moaned, my voice weak. "She... she thought that
by being around me, I... I would have brought her down, too."

"How did you take that?"

I let out another (begrudging) laugh. "I stayed home from
school for a week, then got my schedule re-arranged so April
was in just one of my classes - instead of four or five. As
I think about it, I did not stay home that week. I worked.
I worked from nine in the morning until eleven at night for
six days that week. It was at _Kentucky Fried Chicken_.
Our store was so desperate for help that the boss ignored
the child labor laws for me. I was only 17, but worked in
excess of 80 or 90 hours that week - just to keep my mind off
of April, and stay away from her."

"Were you friends with her when you went back to school?"

"Yeah, but not as much as before," I responded. "After I
graduated from high school, my father was transferred in his
job again - this time to California. I went to her house the
day before moving to California, and she gave me a hug and
wished me the best of luck. Once in California, I kept in
contact with April through the postal mail for a good two or
three years. Just letting her know how things were for me.
We even talked a few times on the telephone. Incredibly
enough, she called me each time."

"Did you tell her about your ex-fiancee?"

"Yeah, I told her," I breathed. "I also told her that
Victoria left me standing at the altar, and why. I haven't
heard from April in years. I kept writing her, but she
stopped replying after two or three years. I guess it was
just time to move on for her, and get away from me."

"Do you still write her?"

"Once a year," I nodded. "One of my friends who lives in
New Jersey, he came to my wedding years ago and told me that
April really cared about me. April was always worried about
me, and it hurt her that she shot me down all those times.
Believe it or not, but he said that April told him that she
loved me. Just... April couldn't go out with me. She did not
want to go out with me because I would have... depressed her."

"If you could go back in time and change things, would
you still demand that answer from her?"

"Yes," I replied. "Without a doubt. It was the absolute
worst thing that she could have told me, but yes, I would
still want to hear it. It tore me up inside, but at least I
got the honest answer. What April said to me, though - it
has always stayed with me, Trish. It will never leave."

"It's just one person's opinion, Jeremy..."

"I try my best to be nice to people. I try to my best to
smile and be friendly, be happy, be courteous. But I know
that I cannot fully mask the way I feel, or my emotions. I
have not led the best of lives, you know, and there hasn't
been many things over the years for me to be happy about. I
did not have the best childhood, and things certainly haven't
improved much - excluding these past two weeks - since then."

Trish frowned. "I do get that vibe from you sometimes,
Jeremy. You are kind and gracious toward all of us, but I
can tell that you are not the happiest person inside. At
times, it seems like you have to force yourself to smile.
When no one is around... when you think you are alone, I
have caught sad and depressed looks from you on occasion."

"Am I that obvious?"

Trish shook her head. "It's perfectly okay in my book.
I'm not the happiest person either, you know. Neither is
Pamela. Devon, Amy, even Camille. Even Lindsay. Maybe
that is a hidden reason why all of us wanted to come to the
island in the first place? Something new and exciting?
Something to break the same old boring, daily grind of life?
I think the only truly happy person here is Kristanna."

Trish frowned and nodded her head. "Her mom and younger
sister had to convince her not to cut herself with a knife.
She said her father was her hero in life. He was only 46
when he died. It was totally unexpected, too. Lindsay even
told me that she thought about putting her neck through the
machine saw in the meat cutting room at the grocery store
where she works. She was THAT upset about her father."

"Wow..." I murmured, taking all of that in. Perhaps I
could talk more about this with Lindsay in the future?

Soon, I remembered something. I reached into my pocket
and pulled out my wallet, and opened it up. After thumbing
through a series of photographs encased in plastic sleeves,
I settled on one and showed it to Trish. "This is a picture
of April and me when we were both 17."

Trish took my wallet from me and inspected the photograph
closely. If one did know any better, they would suspect that
April and I were once a loving couple by looking at the
photograph. In it, the two of us were smiling as I embraced
April from behind. "She looks like Amy," Trish observed.
"And you look so very young!"

I laughed again. "That is one reason why I chose Amy as
one of you girls to come to the island - she reminds me of
April. One of many reasons why I chose Amy..."

Trish returned my wallet and wondered, "Are you still in
love with April, Jeremy?"

"April is a closed chapter of my life," I told her. "It
will stay forever closed. I have no intention of ever going
back to New Jersey. Plus, last I heard, she was living with
some guy and was thinking of marrying him. That was four or
five years ago, at least. They are probably married now. I
send her a letter through the mail once a year now, but I
know that she will never reply. Still, I must try."

"What about Victoria? Do you still love her, eh?"

"I hate Victoria," was my response. "She destroyed me.
For as much as what April said affected me, and hurt me...
what Victoria did was a billion times worse. A trillion.
She ripped my heart out in front of everyone, and stomped
on it. She..." Trish suddenly appeared to be a bit uneasy
because of my words, so I decided to let up about Victoria.
I did not want to get all mean and nasty around Trish.

"Are you going to forget about Lindsay?" I asked, changing
the subject between us. "I guess you could never really
forget since you care for her so much. I'll never forget
April or Victoria. But will you at least move on, Trish? I
do not want to see you hurt or upset. I certainly do not
want to see you cry. I want you to be happy."

Trish shrugged her shoulders and pouted, "I really have
no choice but to move on from Lindsay. It will be so hard
because I consider her to be absolutely perfect. Lindsay is
everything that I have ever dreamed of in another girl. But
if she doesn't like me, I... I have no choice."

"Lindsay just wants to have sex right now," I said.

Trish frowned again. "Sex for me has always been much
more meaningful and important than just physical pleasure.
It has always been an expression of love and caring, true
and total devotion. When you and I took Lindsay's virginity
a nearly two weeks ago, Jeremy, it was the most incredible
experience of my life. Certainly the best, and the most
memorable. I'll never forget it. It was so special for me."

"Is what happened that day one of the reasons why you are
so attracted to Lindsay?"

Trish nodded her head. "Yes, most definitely. I had
always fantasized about being with a virgin girl. I had been
with a virgin guy before, but never a virgin girl. It was my
ultimate fantasy come to life!" Trish giggled and added, "I
wish I had it on video so I could re-live it all over again!"

I had that three-some archived in the voyeur room...

"I guess I want to be Lindsay's beginning, middle and end
in terms of sex, and relationships," Trish confessed. "That
is included in my fantasy of the virgin girl - I am so good
for her, and I treat her so well, that she does not ever need
or even want anyone else." Trish paused and continued, "But
you and the others that I have talked to about her are right.
I hate to admit it, but I am a lot older than Lindsay."

"I'm older than you, Trish, and _I_ HATE to admit it," I
mused. "I'm 39. You're 30, and Lindsay is only 18. I hate
to admit that I am a lot older than Lindsay is. Do you know
that Lindsay was five years from even being CONCEIVED by her
parents when I asked April out for the first time? That is
totally unbelievable to me. It blows my mind."

"Lindsay is still a kid," Trish sulked. "A child." She
was silent for a moment, then shook her head. "Did April
ever stop to think that if she actually said _yes_ to you,
and went out with you, it would have made you a lot happier?
Then, you wouldn't have felt so down and depressed." I
shrugged my shoulders as Trish continued, "Makes sense to
me. If it was me, Jeremy, I'd have went out with you."

I was somewhat surprised by her comment. "Really?"

"Yes, really. It's too bad you didn't go to my school."

"What were you like in high school, Trish?"

"I was a freaky combination of a really good athlete and
a science nerd," she told me. "I was really into soccer and
gymnastics, and played hockey, too. I was also a cheerleader
in high school. I was into science, too. I had this little
microscope. I loved to dissect things and look at them with
it. And I absolutely LOVE astronomy - always have."

"You?" I chuckled. "A science nerd?" I tried to envision
this blonde and overly curvaceous creature of satisfaction as
a _science nerd_. Hey, I bet Trish looked really good in a
pair of glasses and one of those white lab coats...

"I love science and always have," she stressed to me.
"Were there any other girls in high school besides April?
Any others that you had an interest in?"

I shook my head. "No, not really. I asked a few others
out, but always found myself coming right back to April."

"I would have gotten your mind off of April," Trish said,
her voice sweet and sincere. "You and I could have went out,
been boyfriend and girlfriend, if we knew each other."

"I'm afraid that a girl as beautiful and as popular as
you must have been in those days would have never noticed a
guy like me, let alone go out with me."

"What makes you say that?" Trish squealed.

"Experience."

"I'm noticing you right now," she countered. "Aren't I?"

"You didn't the other day."

"What are you talking about?"

I took a deep breath. "Do you remember when you and I
were talking at the bar that one day? When was it? Perhaps
the weekend before last? Whatever, we were having a nice
discussion. Lindsay showed up, you stopped talking to me.
You completely forgot that I was even there, Trish. You went
off with Lindsay right in the middle of our discussion."

Trish nodded her head. "Yes, I remember that. I thought
about it later, too. It was incredibly rude of me to do that
to you. But Jeremy, you know how much Lindsay affects me.
My whole world stops whenever I catch a tiny glimpse of her."

"I know," I breathed. "I am not angry or upset with you
at all, Trish. I know what Lindsay does to you inside."

"I should have apologized for walking out on you like I
did a long time ago, but I'm doing it now. I'm sorry."

I smiled at her. "Apology accepted."

"I have always been attracted to guys who are very open
and honest," Trish explained. "Guys who are soft-spoken and
respectful. That describes you, Jeremy. Whether it be now,
ten years ago or ten years into the future, I would notice
you, and like you. I like you now."

Her words made me smile. "Thank you."

"Can I ask a favor of you, though?"

"Nice way to butter me up for it..."

Trish giggled at my playful accusation. "I know that Amy
has a birthday coming up in a couple of days. She will be
31. I also know that you have something planned for her,
like a surprise party. Kristanna was telling all of us about
it earlier. It will be a surprise party for Amy. I hope I
do not make you mad by asking, but... can... can I skip it?"

"You want to skip Amy's birthday party? Why?"

Trish was sulking again. "Lindsay will be there, and I
know that she and Amy are going to be laughing and having a
good time. It will just make me feel bad, Jeremy. I will
think that Lindsay should be laughing with me. Not Amy."

"You have to get over that girl," I reiterated. "You
have four whole weeks left on the island with Lindsay. You
will eat breakfast and dinner with her every single day. No
matter what, you cannot avoid Lindsay, Trish."

"Birthdays are different," she told me. "I just think
Lindsay and Amy are going to be mega-happy on that day. I
would really rather skip it, Jeremy. Please? It's not
like anyone is going to miss me, or something. Lindsay
wants nothing to do with me. Amy is going to be mad at me
once she learns that I called her a horrible influence on
Lindsay. I called her a bunch of other things, too. I bet
Lindsay and Amy would probably like it if I wasn't there.
No one else is going to miss me, either."

"I would miss seeing you there, Trish."

"Please let me skip it," she begged. "Please?"

"Okay," I relented. "You can come down with a case of the
phantom flu the day before. It has to be under one condition,
though - you MUST stay in your room, and sell the fact that
you are sick. It would look incredibly bad for you to skip
Amy's birthday party in favor of... going to the weight room.
I don't care if there is friction between you and Amy or not.
You have to stay in your room and act sick."

"I can do that," she nodded. "Thank you, Jeremy. I know
it is a strange request on my part, but I really appreciate
it. I need some time to get over Lindsay." Trish frowned
and continued, "I guess that we're not room-mates anymore,
eh? Maybe I went about this whole thing the wrong way.
Maybe I should have kept my feelings bottled up inside of me
for a few more weeks. Not scared her off, I guess. But it
would have been so hard. Lindsay is my ultimate dream girl."
She shook her head and ended, "I've never felt this way about
anyone in my whole, entire life. It's crazy."

"Love can be crazy sometimes," I told her. "In a perfect
world, you and Lindsay would love each other equally and
live happily ever after. But the world is not perfect."

Trish sighed. "Tell me about it."

I smiled at her. "Would you be interested in playing a
game of pinball with me here on one of the machines? Maybe
one of the arcade games instead? _Playstation 3_ or _X-Box_?
_X-Box 360_? Air hockey? Foosball? Your choice."

"I LOVE to play air hockey - always have - but am not in
a gaming sort of mood right now," Trish informed me.

I nodded my head at her. "I understand."

"I will be glad to take you up on that offer in a day or
two," Trish frowned. "Right now, I think it's best that I
go to my room and lay down... get some sleep. I... I just
cannot believe that Lindsay does not want to be with me."

"What about the slumber party?"

Trish sighed again. "I'm sure that is where Lindsay is
at right now. I don't need to be around her again tonight.
I... I... I'm done... for the evening. I'm just done."

"There is no reason for you to spend the night all by
yourself," I said. "Why don't you come to my suite and
spend the night with me?" I quickly held up my hands, not
wanting Trish to get the wrong idea about my offer. "I am
not proposing or insinuating that anything should happen
between us. We could stay awake for awhile and talk... get
to know each other better. You can even have my bed all to
yourself. I'll sleep on the sofa. Sound good?"

"Thanks, but no thanks."

"I'm alone tonight, Trish. You're alone tonight. All of
the others are keeping each other company at the party. Why
should you and I have to be all alone tonight? Again, I am
not suggesting that something should happen between us. It
is the furthest thing from my mind. I just think that you
need a friend right now. You could use some company."

"I really appreciate your offer," Trish countered. "I
really do, Jeremy. I just think that I would be better off
by myself tonight. I wouldn't be good company for you. I
need some time alone to sit back, and think."

I knew something that would definitely change her mind.

"Game four of the Stanley Cup Finals is going on right now
between the Chicago Blackhawks and Boston Bruins." Trish was
quite the hockey fanatic. There was no way she could turn
this down. "Why don't you come back to my room with me, and
we can watch the game? Get some popcorn, have a good time."

"Not tonight, Jeremy."

Well, I was wrong. Apparently nothing would change her
mind. I could not believe that Trish refused to watch her
favorite sport with me. There was no absolutely point to
try and convince her otherwise now.

"Very well. I respect your wishes. I just want you to
know, Trish, that I will always be here for you. That
includes tonight if you change your mind. If you have any
problems or feel like talking about something, I'll be here
for you. I'm here for all of you. Always..."

Trish smiled. "I know you are, Jeremy. I know you are."
After she rose to her feet, Trish took a deep breath. "And
I also know that you would not expect anything from me if I
agreed to stay with you in your room tonight. You're not
the type of guy to take advantage of someone like that. The
idea never even remotely crossed my mind."

"I'm glad you realize that about me," were my words. "I
just wanted to help you. That is all."

"Just don't tell me who won the game," Trish pleaded. "I
will probably watch it tomorrow on demand."

"Then I will wait to watch it until tomorrow, too. Hockey
is no fun unless you're there to explain everything, Trish.
I still don't get all the nuances of the sport."

When I stood up as well, Trish stepped forward and gently
encircled my body with both arms. She offered me a friendly
embrace, which was topped off with a kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you for talking to me about Lindsay, and wanting
to help," Trish cooed once our embrace had ended. Those
pretty brown eyes were flickering as she smiled, "And thank
you for telling me more about yourself, and your past."

"April, you mean?"

"Have you told anyone else on the island about her yet?"

"Only Kristanna."

"I meant what I said."

"What was that?"

Trish grinned. "I would have made you forget about April
if we went to the same high school." Trish pressed her lips
to my mouth and volunteered a deep, tongue-filled kiss. My
insides tingling with a sudden rush of emotion and desire,
Trish concluded the kiss by stepping back and smiling at me.
"I think it's time that I lay down." Trish turned to walk
away, but stopped and then glanced back over her shoulder at
me. "I hope that you and I have the opportunity to spend
more private time together like this in the future, Jeremy.
I enjoyed talking with you." She waved her hand. "Bye..."

With a pair of skintight spandex shorts adorning it, I
literally drooled as I watched Trish's splendid, round ass
jiggle and twitch as she strutted away from me. Realizing
that I now had a hard, aching erection, I cleared my throat
three times before finally managing to call out, "I hope
that we can spend more time alone together, too." Then, in
a voice too low for Trish to hear, I ended, "MUCH more..."

Who should Jeremy choose to pursue a relationship with? Your feedback is
very valuable to me and appreciated more than you would ever know. Please
send me your comments at JeremyDCP@hotmail.com. Thank you!

Screw Lindsay! Trish deserves better than that! What I don't understand is why Jeremy brought Amy to the island in the first place. I mean, she's clearly a nymphomaniac and a skank. He picked her because she reminded him of his former girlfriend that stood him up? What the actual f*ck? Well, she's got hold of Lindsay and turned her into a whore, I hope she's happy. Pamela and Devon are pretty good candidates for Jeremy to pick, I just hope that Kristanna won't be sidelined because Kristanna loves him too. Poor Trish, she just wanted someone to love, but clearly Lindsay is not one of them.

Great chapter, and its good to see Lindsay finally let Trish know that she is a skank and isn't interested in anything but meaningless sex. Although I will forever be confused about what Jeremy's true goal is? His "worst" experience in life is directly caused by his partner also being in love with a woman, and yet every woman he seems to be infatuated with on the island not only openly admits to loving other women, but are even more sexually satisfied by these women. Plus he keeps jumping back and forth between wanting and having empty meaningless sex and pining for some elusive soul mate that obviously isn't one of the women on the island. I'm sticking with the solution of keeping Kristanna, Devon, Pamela, and Trish as friends and fuck buddies. And once the contest is over, forever forgetting about the 3 skanks Camille, Amy, and Lindsey.